Plants perennial, 60–150 cm. Root cylindric, brown, 1–2 cm thick, aromatic. Stem purplish, thinly ribbed. Basal and lower leaves petiolate, petioles 5–15 cm, sheaths 1–1.5 cm wide; blade broadly triangular-ovate, 10–15 × 13–18 cm, 2–3-ternate-pinnate, glabrous; leaflets short-petiolulate or sessile, ovate or rhombic-ovate, 2–4 × 1–3 cm, base cuneate, margin 3–5-coarse-toothed, apex acute. Peduncles 10–15 cm; bracts 3 to several, linear-lanceolate; rays 17–30, unequal; bracteoles 4–8, linear, scarious, nearly as long as pedicels; umbellules 14–20-flowered; pedicels glabrous or scabrous. Calyx teeth obsolete. Petals yellowish green or purplish, ovate. Fruit ellipsoid, 5–7 × 3–4 mm; dorsal ribs filiform, lateral ribs winged, wings narrower than the body; vittae 1 in each furrow, 2 on commissure. Fl. Jun–Aug, fr. Jul–Sep.

The roots have reputed medicinal properties.

Shrubby thickets, gravelly grasslands, river banks; 3500–4200 m. Xizang.